Permanently Yours
by ambivalent.dreams
Summary: When Sophie's friend runs into her idols in Universal Studios, she falls harder than she ever expected.
1. Chapter 1

Universal Studios had to be one of the worst places in the world. Fat old people stopping every five seconds, screaming children, and worst of all, the Florida heat. The one silver lining had to be that the lines weren't as long as they could've been. Still, if it weren't for the fact that our entire trip was paid for, I would not have been there.

"LET'S GO TO HONEYDUKE'S." screamed Madison, as we got off the Harry Potter ride for the third time that day.

"Maddy, maybe we should go ride something-" Before I could finish my suggestion, she screamed with glee and ran off toward the store. I sighed and jogged after her.

"Maddy, please." I cried as I opened the door. A quick look around, and she was... no where. Even though the store was packed with sweaty bodies, I should've been able to see her mane of sandy blonde hair at least, but there was absolutely no trace of her.

Great. I was stuck chasing after a 21 year old girl in a 125 acre resort. I pushed past a few tourists to reach the other side of the shop, and peeked behind a large shelf to find Maddy, her arms wrapped around a tall, skinny stranger.

"Madeline Marie Evans! What are you doing?" I screeched, trying to avoid the eyes of the stranger and his friends.

"Is she yours?" the man said with a laugh as he pried her arms off.

"Unfortunately." I muttered under my breath. I looked over at Maddy, who didn't look the least bit put-off by his slight aversion to... well, having complete strangers half-attacking him.

"Sophie, do you know who this is?! DO YOU?" she squealed, poking his flat stomach a few times for emphasis. "This is Mike fucking Fuentes. And that's Vic, and Jaime, and Tony, and... and... They're Pierce the _fucking_ Veil!" She gave another squeal of glee and hugged the tallest one- Mike- again.

The names meant next to nothing to me at the time, and the band name was only vaguely familiar. I figured it had to be a band- a very Mexican one at that- that she adored, and the further away I got her, the better it would be for them.

"Maddy, please stop. It's 1 p.m. and we have the whole rest of the park to get through, and I doubt that guy wants a girl-shaped tumor attached to him all day." I said, attempting to detach her again.

"Actually," said Mike as he gently pulled her arms off, "I wouldn't mind riding a few rides together, if you wanted."

That earned another high-pitched scream from Maddy,- and got more than a few stares- who grabbed Mike's hand and pulled him outside. Two of Mike's friends quickly followed, while the third- Tony, I thought to myself, but it might have been Vic- waited behind to hold the door.

"Your friend's a little... eccentric?" he said, giving a little grin.

I laughed softly; that didn't even begin to explain it.


	2. Chapter 2

The next few hours flew by, what with the rides and the company from Mike and his friends. Jaime- who I discovered was the person that held the door for me- stuck close to me the entire time, making the whole experience considerably less awkward with his jokes and somewhat crude body language. Coming to Florida was actually turning out better than I thought.

That is, until everyone decided that riding _Dr. Doom's Fearfall _was a good idea.

I pulled Maddy close to me as we stood in line. "I cannot ride this, Madeline." I hissed in her ear, barely audible over the noise of the ride. Her eyes grew wide as realization suddenly dawned on her; the last time I had ridden a ride like that, I nearly passed out, and I was not looking for a repeat performance. Whether it was the thought of it's mechanisms failing, sending us crashing to the ground, or the sickening up and down motion, something about riding it made me dizzy and nauseous.

"S'cuse me fellas, I've gotta take Soph to the potty." she said loudly, attempting to squeeze past the people behind us.

"Wait, I can take her." Jaime volunteered. "I don't really want to ride anyway."

I face flushed and I tried to protest. Before any sound could come out, Maddy shoved her first into my mouth, nearly choking me and bringing tears to my eyes. I pushed her hand away and wiped them, hoping that I would just melt through the floor and disappear. People all around were staring, and even though there weren't even that many, the weight of their stares made me feel suffocated. Maddy, sensing this, grabbed Jaime's hand, wrapped it around my wrist, and shoved me towards the exit. I felt a hand on my waist- bigger, this had to be Jaime- pushing me gently along until we were back out of the line.

I turned back to him and started to apologize. "I'm really sorry, I didn't want to make anyone miss the ride."

"It's totally okay. I wasn't really interested in riding anyway." he said with a small shake of his head. The smile on his face brought a matching one to my own. "So do you want to go to the bathroom now?"

I raised an eyebrow in question, until I remembered the lie I had told to get off the ride. I nodded and headed towards the nearest bathroom, leaving him sitting on a bench while I pretended to do my business. When I got back out, he patted the spot next to him until I sat.

"So what made you two wanna come here?" he asked as he slipped his sunglasses over his eyes an stared up at the sun.

"We won a contest." I admitted. "Well, Maddy did anyway. For some reason, she picked me over all her other friends." Jaime gave me a questioning look, so I continued,

"Maddy's friendly, a fucking social butterfly. Everyone loves her and she loves everyone. Me, though? I'm anti-social."

"Well, it's obvious that _she's_ friendly." he said, making us both laugh. "But I think you could be too. I mean, you hung out with all of us today, didn't you?"

I shrugged and said, "It's mostly been just you, and you're easy to get along with."

That got me another dazzling smile, before he said "So are you. You just have to put yourself out there, let people really get to know you."

"Maybe I will one day." I said, feeling a slight confidence boost.

He looked up at the sky, face expressionless for a moment. When he looked back at me, there was a smile on his face. "Wanna get out of here?" he asked. "We can grab a map and go find something else to do."

That idea did not sound good to me at all.

"I-I can't. I really need to wait on Maddy." I protested. "I can't just leave her."

And well, I didn't really want to go off with a complete stranger.

"She'll be okay. Mike'll take care of her." he said, pulling out his phone. "I can call him and tell him, if you want."

Seeing no other way to avoid it- because really, why would either of them protest- I sighed and nodded, then pulled out my own phone to text Maddy.  
**  
Sophie: **_I'm going to ride some rides with Jaime. If I don't come home tonight, I'm probably dead.  
_**Maddy: **_Or... ;3_

I sighed and rolled my eyes; there was no way that I was going to be getting busy with Jaime tonight, more than likely any night. Joking or not, we both knew it wasn't going to happen.

"Well, I guess we should go." I said, noticing that Jaime was off of the phone with Mike. "Maddy was more than happy to be left alone with Mike. I just hope she doesn't start dry-humping him."

Jaime giggled- _giggled, _for fucks sake- and stood up.

"Who knows, he might be into that shit." he said. "But that's beside the point. Where to first?"


	3. Chapter 3

"I am so_ beyond_ tired." Maddy sighed as she walked into our hotel room.

I glanced up at her from my spot on my bed and said, "You're late."

Her face flushed red. "Mike wanted to take the boat back."

"Maddy, please don't let yourself get too involved with this guy." I said as I sat up and slid off the bed. "We've only got four more days here, and after that... well, it's not likely that you'll ever see him again."

She shrugged and said, "I know. It was already a miracle that I even met them, and honestly, I'm happy with just that."

I stared at her for a second, trying to decipher her nearly blank expression, but nothing came to me before her phone started to ring and broke my concentration. She walked into the bathroom, the water coming on and turning her voice into a faint whisper. When she emerged, there was a huge smile on her face.

"Mike wants to hang out. There's gonna be fireworks tonight."

A frown spread across my face. Of course, this is what the rest of our vacation would probably be like; her hanging out with her rock star crush, me alone in our hotel room. Story of my life. She darted back into the bathroom, still chattering about Mike and completely oblivious to my discontent. She came back out thirty minutes later to find me still in the same spot and looked utterly shocked.

"Why aren't you getting ready?" she asked.

"Why should I?"

"Because you're sweaty and boys don't like that." she said, as if that explained everything. When I didn't immediately respond, she continued, "You're coming with me, right?"

I must've looked surprised, because then she said, "Did you think I was going to leave you here?" Of course I did. "Soph, I didn't bring you with me to just leave you here all night. You're coming out to have fun with me."

"Define _'fun'._" I said, apprehensive even though not an hour earlier I had been upset at her for leaving me behind.

"_Fun _is what happens when you go out with boys and watch fireworks and let them buy you Starbucks."

That definitely had my attention. I was a complete Starbucks junkie.

"So if I go, I get free Starbucks?" I asked, inching closer and closer to my suitcase.

Somehow, she rolled her eyes, nodded, and grinned at me all at once. Fifteen minutes later, I was showered and dressed to her standards, and we were headed out of the hotel. She held my hand as we walked to CityWalk, squeezing every so often and nearly bouncing with excitement. Surprisingly, I was getting pretty excited too.

When we got to CityWalk, Maddy pulled out her phone to call Mike, who said he was waiting for us at Starbucks. Once she hung up, she practically ran towards it, dragging me along behind her. When she finally stopped, I bent over, resting my hands on my knees as I tried to catch my breath.

"You know," came a familiar voice from someone above me, "I've heard that coffee can really help exhaustion."

I straightened up to find Jaime standing in front of me, a grin on his face and two cups in his hand. He handed me one and I took a hesitant sip.

"How'd you know what I wanted?" I asked, completely shocked.

"Lucky guess?" he shrugged.

"Or Maddy just happened to tell you." Mike interjected as he and Maddy squeezed past and out the door. "Now that you're done trying to be 'suave', let's go find somewhere to sit."


	4. Chapter 4

I'm surprised to say that the rest of the night went perfectly. I was much less awkward than usual around Jaime and his friends, even with Maddy too preoccupied to keep me from making a fool of myself. By the time the fireworks were over and our frappuccinos were gone, I was fully convinced that the rest of the night probably wouldn't be a disaster.

"Guys, guys, watch this!" Jaime declared once the last traces of the fireworks disappeared from the sky. He ran down until he reached flat ground, then proceeded to cartwheel until he nearly knocked into a couple tourists. Before I knew it, the rest of our little group, sans me, had joined him.

When he realized that I was still sitting, he jogged over to me and sat down. "You okay?" he asked, giving me a concerned look. I nodded and he said, "Then come have fun with us!"

My eyebrows raised at him; apparently everyone's idea of fun was extremely distorted tonight. "No thanks." I said with a light laugh. "I'd rather not make a fool of myself."

"Sophie, Sophie, Sophie." he sighed with a shake of his head. "I have no idea how to cartwheel, in case my almost mowing down an innocent couple wasn't evidence enough. I don't think you can get any more foolish than that."

I shook my head, but apparently that wasn't an acceptable answer. When I didn't get up, he pulled me to my feet, then hoisted me over his shoulder and fireman-carried me all the way down to where everyone else still was.

"Now, I'm going to teach you how to cartwheel." he said proudly.

"But you said you didn't know-"

"That doesn't matter right now!" he interrupted. Then, he spread his feet wide and thrust his arms into the air. "Make an X with your body, and just... do it." Through some miracle of physics, and quite possibly pixie dust, he smoothly completed a cartwheel.

When he was done, he came towards me and planted his hands firmly on my hips. Having him- well, anyone really- that close to me made my pulse race.

"Now I'm going to guide you through it." he voiced. "Just do what I did, and don't be scared. I won't let you fall."

I had no idea how to respond. I didn't even know what was going on anymore. There was a boy within 5 feet of me, and Maddy wasn't there to hold my hand, yet- dare I admit it- I was having... fun. Real, genuine, bonafide, honest-to-goodness _fun,_and the world hadn't even imploded.

With the weight of his hands there to comfort me, I slowly turned myself over until I was upside down, then right-side up again. When my eyes opened again and I was safely back on Mother Earth, I couldn't help but laugh.

"That wasn't so bad, now was it?" Jaime said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and murmured to myself, "No, I don't think it was."

-

"So how was your date?" Maddy asked as we rode the boat back to our hotel.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "What date?"

"The one with Jaime, silly." she said, nudging me gently.

"Maddy, I did _not _go on a date with Jaime." I insisted.

She grinned at me and said, "You might wanna tell that to Jaime."


	5. Chapter 5

_Four Days Later_

"SOPHIE YOU GOTTA GET UUUUUUUUUP."

That was my wake up call on our last morning in Florida.

"Maddy, I am going to kill you." I groaned as I rolled over and threw my pillow over my face. Seconds later, it was ripped away along with my blanket, and the light from the sunrise filled my eyes.

"Soph, it's almost 7. Don't you wanna go have breakfast with the boys?"

That brought a smile to my face. Even though we were leaving tonight, I got one last breakfast and a day full of theme parks left to experience.

"Okay, okay. I'm getting up." I sighed while I dragged myself out of the bed and into the shower. By the time I had gotten out, Sophie already had my outfit picked out, just like she had most of the time we had been there.

"You have to _hurry._" she urged, throwing my clothes at me. "We need to eat so we can go ride shit before we leave."

I didn't bother mentioning that the park didn't even close until 9. At that point, I think she was beyond caring. Our last day in Florida meant her last day to spend with Mike, and even though I had warned her, it was obvious that she had fallen hard. I couldn't blame her, they were all amazing guys, and even I was dreading having to leave.

"Alright, alright. I'm ready." I said as I slipped on my left shoe. Before I could do anything more than grab my bag, she was dragging me out of the room and the door was slamming behind me. Thankfully, the boys were waiting for us in the lobby, looking as stunning as ever.

The second that Maddy spotted Mike, she ran and threw herself into his arms, which this time closed around her as he swept her up into a big bear hug.

"They're so cute." I giggled as I hugged Jaime, then Vic, then Tony.

"Ready to go?" Mike asked as Maddy detached herself from him. His voice had a certain grimness that made my chest ache.

-

"You'll text me every day, right?" Jaime asked as we stood outside Maddy's car. It was creeping closer and closer to 11, meaning it was definitely time for us to get on the road. I had already said goodbye to Mike, Tony and Vic, and now all that was left was Jaime.

"Of course, silly." I said, ruffling his spiked hair. "All you have to do is text me back."

Jaime grinned widely and wrapped his arms around me, lifting me off the ground for a second before setting me gently back down. Then he took a step back, something sad in his brown eyes that was probably reflected in my own. I had to admit, even though Tony, Vic and Mike were great, I would probably miss Jaime more than any of them. In the past four days, I had gotten closer with him than I ever had with any other guy- even if that wasn't saying much.

"Soph, it's time to go." Maddy called around the van, her voice tight and choked.

I sighed and turned to tell Jaime goodbye and was met with a sad look and a light kiss on the cheek. I looked up at him, surprised and probably confused, but all I got was a short little wave before he turned and walked back to his friends. My fingers fumbled for the door handle and I climbed in, not saying anything and moving only to fasten my seat belt. I was still confused about what had just happened, and wasn't sure how to respond or even move on from it. Maddy seemed to sense this, and didn't push me to speak.

At least, not right away. We were creeping closer to Georgia's state line when she finally said, "Wanna stop for food?"

I nodded, and she took the next exit. A few minutes later we were sitting in an Arby's and the silence was just as tense as it had been in the van.

"Jaime loves you, you know." she said suddenly.

I shook my head; he was friendly, sure, but that didn't mean that he was in love with me. I was shy and awkward and somewhat plain. Guys just didn't fall in love with things like that. Something in me might have wanted it to be true, but I already knew that it wasn't.

Maddy, however, did not agree. "Soph, have you seen the way he looks at you? People don't look at their friends that way. If he doesn't love you, he's at least somewhere past like."

"Even if that was true, Maddy, he's in a band! I'm never going to see him again, and he probably won't ever remember me after this." I sighed.

She shrugged and took a sip of her drink. "Maybe, but have you even tried reminding him?" she asked, gesturing towards my phone.

I stared at the black screen, as if looking at it long enough would make a text come in. I didn't want to be the first one to text him. Besides looking desperate and clingy, what would I even say?

"How about 'hey'?" Maddy said when I voiced my concerns.

I hesitated, so she grabbed my phone and sent it for me. I was too shocked to even move.

"There, it's done." she said as she crammed a few more curly fries into her mouth.

My eyes were fixed on my phone, waiting for a text back, and when my phone buzzed loudly on the table it made me jump. I stared at the name for a minute, so completely shocked that it took me a second to realize that I had yet to even read the text.

**Jaime: **_Hey. :)_

As much as I wanted not to smile, I couldn't help it; finally, it seemed like something in my life was going _perfectly._


	6. Chapter 6

_One Year Later_

"I'm excited. More than excited." came Jaime's voice through my house phone. "We're going to make it big, Soph. I can feel it."

I forced a small smile, even though I knew he couldn't see it. Being successful, something his parents could be proud of, it was his dream, and I wanted him to have that. That didn't make the thought of him becoming too famous for me hurt any less.

"And you're going to come see me, right?" he asked, with what I had grown to recognize as hope obvious in his voice.

"Of course I will." I laughed. What reason did I have not to? I wanted to go to Warped Tour anyway, and if I was being honest with myself, I did really like him.

"Good. Because I miss you." he said softly.

"I miss you too." I said with a little smile.

For a second there was nothing but the sound of him breathing through the phone, then he swore softly and said, "Soph, I gotta go. We've gotta load up the RV and hit the road."

I tried to keep the disappointment out of my voice as I said, "Okay. Just call me whenever you get the chance."

"Of course. Bye Sophie." I barely got a goodbye out before the phone clicked. I sighed; it was just proof that he would soon get too busy to even have time for me in his life.

I walked down our apartment's short hallway and knocked gently on the door of Maddy's room to let her know that I was coming in. She was sitting on her bed, the laptop in front of her playing Pierce the Veil as she surfed the web. I sat down on the end of her bed to listen with her. As 'The Boy Who Could Fly' ended and her iTunes shuffled to 'Drella', I smiled. This was the first song that Maddy had forced me to listen to when we got back to Georgia last year, and after that I had fallen in love.

"You talk to Jaime today?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer. "Did he tell you about warped?"

I nodded and asked, "You're going with me, right?"

"Of course. I have to see Mikey, don't I?" The answer to that was obviously yes. After we got back from Florida, the two had talked almost non-stop, texting and calling each other every time they had the chance, and it didn't take long for Mike to ask her to be his girlfriend.

"Do you think they've changed a lot?" I asked, pointing my nervous and worried look towards the ceiling.

"And by that you must mean 'Does Jaime still want me?'." she said, rolling her eyes. "Of course he does, Soph. Just chill, you've got nothing to be worried about."

I nodded slowly, still frowning. With all my heart, I hoped she was right.

-

"Mike says we should go to their merch tent and get the passes from Mai. They play around 5." Maddy said as we got in the gates. "We can chill with her for a while, if you want."

"Sure." I said, mostly because I was nervous about seeing Jaime and I wanted a little bit longer to prepare.

We walked a bit longer in silence, searching for the tent. Suddenly, Maddy squealed and pointed straight ahead; there, at the back of the venue, sat their tent.

-

Hours later, we were being put to work. Selling merch, making sure everyone knew signing and set times, and running around to get water and promote the band. Mai, their merch girl, was bouncy and talkative, telling us everything about the past 31 days of Warped. I smiled at every little story about the boys and their antics; getting drunk and standing on their RV, having wild soccer games, skinny dipping in empty hotel pools. It made me a little sad that I had missed all of it, but hearing the details of their tour life made the time apart from Jaime seem not so bad.

Before I knew it, it was almost 5, time for us to go watch them play for the first time. As we walked to the Altec stage, almost on the opposite side of the venue, my stomach was doing an entire gymnastic routine. I put a hand on it, hoping to calm it, but of course it didn't work. Maddy elbowed her way to the front of the crowd (giving up a spot on stage, because the crowd had 'better atmosphere') with me in tow, until we were front and center, one person away from the barrier. When the band's techs came out to set up, I squeezed Maddy's hand briefly, and she returned the gesture with a wide grin.

Once all the techs had moved off stage, my pulse started to race. Finally, time to see Jaime in person for the first time in a year.

Then, the boys finally took the stage. Mike ran up to his drums, Vic right in front of us, Tony to our right, and finally, Jaime.


	7. Chapter 7

"Jaime!" I squealed as I climbed onto their bus after the show. He looked up and smiled, flashing dimples that always managed to make me melt. He stood up and hugged me tightly, a gesture that I returned. I buried my face in his neck and smiled, welcoming the once again familiar feel of his biceps and the smell of his favorite Axe.

"Hey, did you forget about me?" came Vic's voice. "I know I'm small and shit, but I'm not totally invisible."

I laughed and let go of Jaime, however reluctantly, and moved around him to hug Vic and Tony. Mike was instantly occupied with Maddy, though he didn't seem to mind at all. As they gave each other little pecks in the middle of the bus, I sat down on the couch next to Jaime.

"I can't believe it's been a year since I've seen you guys." I sighed. "What have you been doing all this time?"

"What have we not been doing?" Vic said. "We fuck shit up wherever we go."

-

Later on, after we had finished eating whatever catering had provided, Maddy and I were sitting in borrowed lawn chairs as the boys and a few scattered members of other bands played an impromptu soccer game in a field behind the venue. We both laughed as Jaime kicked the ball hard... straight into Mike's crotch. As Maddy jumped up to help him, Jaime took her seat next to me.

"Havin' fun?" he asked, leaning over until his face was inches from mine. It made my pulse race, no matter how badly I wanted to stay calm.

I smiled and nodded, hardly trusting myself to speak. Part of me hated that he had this effect on me, but the other part thought back to the peck on the cheek he had given me, and that part definitely wanted more.

"Wanna go back to the bus?" he asked suddenly. There went my pulse again. "We've got a day off tomorrow, so they'll probably be out here for a while."

"S-sure." I stuttered, letting him pull me to my feet. He lead me back to the bus- which was blissfully empty- then pulled me onto the couch.

"Can I talk to you about something?" he asked, eyes refusing to meet mine. I bit my lip and nodded. "Soph, I... I really like you. Seriously, all I've been able to think about for the past year is you."

For an entire year, I had imagined him saying this, hoping that the next time I saw him, he would return my feelings like Maddy had always said he would, and finally it was happening. And I had no idea what to say.

After a few moments of silence, he sighed and said, "I'm sorry. I should've thought this through more. I... Just forget it."

He was about to stand up, maybe leave entirely, when I grabbed his arm and said, "Please, stay with me. I like being with you, Jaime. A lot."

We smiled at each other as he sat back down and wrapped his arms around me. He slowly planted kisses along my jawline, down across my cheek, and finally on my lips. I smiled into it, putting a hand gently on his face. It was obvious that he took that as a good sign, because the kiss quickly turned heated- not that I minded. I was completely lost in it by the time he pulled away.

"I have been hoping and praying for this moment almost since I first met you." he sighed as he gently stroked my cheek.

I shook my head and said, "Why couldn't you just tell me?"

"Things are never that simple." he said with a smile. "I was scared, Soph. Nobody likes rejection, and it seemed likely that you'd reject me."

"I could never." I smiled, staring at his big brown eyes. "I don't know if you've realized it, but you're the best guy a girl could have."

"I think Maddy would beg to differ." he said as he kissed my forehead, "but I'm glad you think so."

I rolled my eyes, at the same time trying to fight back a yawn, but Jaime caught it anyway.

"You should sleep. I can take the couch, you can have my bed." he said, standing up and reaching out a hand to help me. I accepted, then walk to the middle of the bus and pulling back the curtains that guarded his bunk.

After a moment, I turned back and said, "I'm small, Jaime, and it's not like you're Mike-sized. We can share."

"But I smell." he whined, making a face.

"Duh. I do too." I sighed. "C'mon, it really doesn't matter. I don't wanna leave you on the couch. It's rude."

"Your manners are completely backwards, but sure." he said while he lifted his shirt over his head. In my head, I swooned at the sight of his bare chest and stomach.

When he caught me staring, he smirked and said, "See something you like."

I laughed and shook my head, then crawled into his bunk and scooted up against the wall to give him room. Once he had finished scooting in after me and we finally found a comfortable position, he pulled a thin blanket up over us.

"Good night, Soph." he said, kissing my forehead softly. "Sweet dreams."


	8. Chapter 8

When I woke up the next morning, Jaime was still in a deep, peaceful sleep. I could hear others up and moving around, but I didn't want to wake him, and besides, I quickly discovered that I liked to watch him sleep. As creepy as that admittedly sounded, it really wasn't. He looked calm and entirely beautiful, like a tattooed angel. Plus, warming up my eternally cold hands on his warm chest wasn't too bad either.

I had just pressed my hands back up against his stomach when his eyes fluttered open and he muttered something incomprehensible. I swore softly under my breath; I had been hoping he would stay asleep a bit longer.

"Soph?" he mumbled. "You're still here?"

"Even if I had a choice," I laughed, "I wouldn't have left. I was actually enjoying it in here."

At that exact moment, the curtain yanked open and Maddy's face appeared behind Jaime's. I groaned at the loss of my perfect moment.

"We're going out to get some breakfast, then the boys have to hit the road. Quit being nasty and get dressed." she ordered quickly before disappearing again.

I sighed and kissed Jaime's lips, making his eyes pop open and bringing a smile to his face. God, I hadn't realized how much I missed that smile.

Soon his smile faded. "Time to go?"

-

Thirty minutes later, the six of us were squished into a booth at a Waffle House not far from the venue. By some miracle, no one had come up to us, and our breakfast was somewhat peaceful. Minus the elbows flying into my ribs from both sides.

"Fucking shit, Vic." I griped as his elbow nearly made me lose half my omelet. "Move over or I will saw you in half with my knife."

He elbowed me again for good measure before scooting to give me more room. I smiled at myself and finished of my omelet and hash browns.

"I'm full." I said with a satisfied smile. " Let's go take a walk, Jaime!"

He looked at me as if I was crazy and pointed at his half-full plate of food. I sighed and tugged on his shirt, feeling slightly guilty for pulling him away from his breakfast, but I had to talk to him before he left.

"Vic, move. Mike, get me something to put that in." he said as Vic and I slid out of the booth. "Do not touch my food."

I held back a grin as he grabbed my hand and followed me out the door. We sat down on the curb beside the bus and just held each other for a few minutes. When it was over, I sighed. I knew we had to talk about everything that happened overnight- even if there really wasn't anything to discuss- but I wasn't looking forward to trying to initiate the conversation.

"What are we now?" I asked finally, refusing to look into his eyes. Cupping my face with his hands, he pulled me closer to him and said, "You and I both know what I want us to be, but you'll be the one sitting at home while I'm touring. I'm gonna leave that decision up to you."

"Of course I want us to be together. I'd rather deal with the distance than see you with someone else." I admitted, biting my lip nervously.

"I'm all yours." he said with a smile. "I love you, Sophie."

My heart started beating rapidly at those words. "I- I love you too."

-

_Fifteen Minutes Later_

"I promise, I'll visit as much as possible, and... and I'll see you whenever we play here, and we can talk every night." Jaime said, staring deep into my eyes. I nodded and wrapped my arms tightly around him, reluctant to let go. I knew it was past time for them to leave, but I couldn't bring myself to say goodbye.

"Just call me whenever you can, no matter what time." I said before standing up on my toes to kiss him again.

"I promise."

We mumbled short 'I love you's to each other, before he hugged me tightly again and disappeared back on the bus. I sighed and walked with Maddy back to her car.

"This sucks." I grumbled as I got in the passenger seat. "Hopefully Warped will be done soon."

"I think you'll make it." Maddy said with a small smile. "It may seem like a long time, but it'll pass before you know it."

I nodded and settled back in my seat, ready for the drive back to our apartment. In my head, I went over the entire year I spent without him, the entire time dwelling on whether I should confess my feelings to him. Those months were torture.

_'Yeah, I don't think it'll be that bad.'_ I thought '_The worst part's already over.'_


End file.
